Trump Pledges To Return Prosperity To Connecticut

FAIRFIELD — In a speech that pivoted from trashing the media to poking fun at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Donald Trump made a pitch for Connecticut voters by

FAIRFIELD — In a speech that pivoted from trashing the media to poking fun at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Donald Trump made a pitch for Connecticut voters by pledging to bring prosperity back to the economically struggling state.

The Republican presidential nominee addressed about 5,000 red-faced and sweaty supporters at a rally in the sweltering gymnasium at Sacred Heart University on Saturday night. While Trump took several jabs at his Democratic opponent, "Crooked" Hillary Clinton, and reiterated his intention of building a wall on the Mexican border, two longtime fixtures of his campaign speeches, he tailored his message to a Connecticut audience: Within a minute of stepping on stage he mentioned General Electric, which is moving its headquarters from Fairfield to Boston.

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Trump's decision to campaign in Connecticut, a state with just seven electoral votes that has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988, confused and angered many national Republican strategists. Recent polls show him facing a fight in South Carolina, Arizona and other states that have been more hospitable to Republican candidates than Connecticut, where the GOP holds no statewide office.

Trump professed his love for Connecticut and shot back at the critics who said his decision to stop here was a waste of time and indicative of a campaign that is veering wildly off course.

"We're making a big move for the state of Connecticut," Trump said, noting that Republican presidential candidates don't usually campaign in the state. "Your taxes are through the roof."

Trump, who for a time lived in Greenwich, joked that "if they get the taxes down I'll come back immediately."

Near the end of his hourlong speech, as many people in the packed gym started to head for the doors because of the heat, Trump read from a sheet of statistics that painted Connecticut in a dire light. He described the state as a depressed backwater with an oppressive tax burden, a crumbling manufacturing base and a spiraling heroin problem.

Connecticut, he said, ranks 50th among states for its fiscal health. "In other words it is the least fiscally healthy state in the union – and you just lost General Electric," Trump said. "The U.S. Department of Education … reports Connecticut is expected to have the nation's third-fastest decline of students enrolled in high school over the next 10 years. It will probably be No. 1 very soon – congratulations. Hey, am I depressing everybody?"

He laid much of the blame for the state's struggles at the feet of Malloy and urged voters to send the Democratic governor a message.

"You've got to vote for Trump just as a signal to your incompetent governor that you're not going to take it anymore," Trump said. "… Do it as a protest vote against your governor for losing General Election."

At several points during the speech, Trump poked fun at Malloy's name, noting that he used to use "Dan," but reverted to his given name, "Dannel," after the election. "Dannel," Trump said in a mocking tone, as the crowd cheered.

Trump thanked Linda McMahon, the two-time Republican U.S. Senate candidate who was a delegate to the Republican National Convention and serves on the board of trustees at Sacred Heart University.

Trump criticized Clinton for taking campaign contributions from wealthy hedge funds, many of who are headquartered in Fairfield County. The Democratic candidate will visit Greenwich for a fundraiser on Monday.

"I'm not going to be controlled by lobbyists," Trump said. "She's totally controlled by hedge fund people. … These are not nice people. These are not people that say I'm doing this for the good of the country. They're doing this for the good of themselves. And when they give $2 million, $3 million, $5 million, $10 million to Crooked Hillary Clinton – they're going to get a lot back."

He also slammed her 2010 opponent, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, reviving a controversy that arose during the campaign when the then-attorney general misspoke about his service record.

"She exposed your senator as being a total fraud," Trump said. "He said he was in Vietnam. He was supposed to be this great fighting machine. He went around for years saying he was a great Vietnam fighter. Telling false tells, telling everything. Linda exposed him – and he got elected? How the hell do you elect a guy like that?"

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Trump also took the New York Times to task, calling the newspaper "dishonest" and threatening to pull the credentials of its reporters. The Times on Saturday published a story on its website that, citing some anonymous sources, painted the candidate as unfocused and in over his head.

"We have a newspaper that is failing badly, it's losing a lot of money, it's going to be out of business very soon – The New York Times. … These are the most dishonest people. … I think maybe what we'll do, maybe we'll start thinking about taking their press credentials away."

Trump's recent missteps — insulting the families of a deceased service member, blaming Obama for starting the war in Afghanistan, asking the mother of a crying baby to leave a rally — haven't hurt his standing with some in the audience.

"He's a little loud with his mouth,'' said Domonik Boehmer, 26, of Seymour, as he stood in the audience waiting for Trump. "But most Americans are. He doesn't speak that political mumbo-jumbo."

There were a few minor disruptions and several people were escorted out of the rally.